Nixeus Moda v2 Mechanical Keyboard Review

For a few years now, mechanical keyboards have seen a major resurgence—and, at the same time, become the go-to solution for anyone looking for a premium typing experience on the PC. The tactile feedback they provide, as well as the distinct amount of key travel required to actuate a key, make for a more comfortable typing experience.

This is good news for both ends of the typing spectrum, whether you are a gamer or a cubicle jockey. Plus, the selection of key-switch types in some mechanical keyboards on the market—in the category-defining (and now, sometimes imitated) Cherry MX Red, Blue, Black, and Brown switches—provides some flexibility. It allows buyers to customize their typing experience at the time of their purchase. With mechanicals, it's no longer one keyboard fits all.

For example, if you like semi-stiff, clicky keys, you can go with Cherry MX Blue (or imitation blue-style) switches. If you want typing that is light and easy, you might go with the red kind. If you want a Goldilocks in-between solution, you go with brown switches. Some switches make a lot of noise, others just a dull thud when you hit a key. So you can see how switching to a mechanical keyboard really can have a profound impact on your gaming, office productivity, and everyday computer use.

The only "problem" with mechanical keyboards? They are much more expensive than their rubber-dome counterparts. (Rubber-dome is the near-default technology in inexpensive keyboards today. If you have a mushy-feeling keyboard, it's probably that kind.) And that’s where the Nixeus Moda v2 comes in.

It’s a full-on mechanical keyboard, but it’s also moderately affordable as mechanicals go. For example, we saw it at just $62.99 on Amazon when we wrote this in early September 2015, down from a $79.99 list price. Full-size mechanical keyboards—that is, models that don’t lack a numeric keypad, as this one does—start, for the most part, at around $80. And the Moda v2 is almost $20 less expensive than the similarly outfitted Corsair K65 Compact Mechanical Keyboard. (We've not reviewed that exact model, but we have looked at the Corsair K65 RGB Compact, which is much the same but adds elaborate LED backlighting.) So it occupies a rare spot among mechanical keyboards in the market: that is, not ruinously expensive.

Design & Features

So, why is this keyboard more affordable than its counterparts? Several reasons. First, it doesn’t use the well-known Cherry MX key switches, but instead ones from a supplier called Kailh. Kailh competes with Cherry, and it uses the same nomenclature for its key switches, and it is presumably seen as a cheaper alternative by keyboard makers. (We’ve seen Kailh switches before in a few boards, such as the Thermaltake Poseidon ZX.) The maker of our review keyboard here, Nixeus, offers the Moda v2 in your choice of three different switches: red-style for people who like light clicks and feedback, brown for people who like a quiet keyboard but still want to feel a bump with each keystroke, and blue for people who want an audible click and a tactile "bump" when typing.

Now, one thing to know, in case you didn't notice from the images so far: This keyboard is not a full keyboard, but what’s known in the keyboard biz as a "tenkeyless" model. It lacks a number pad (which admittedly, accounts for more than just the 10 number keys). Nor does it have any dedicated macro keys. You get just the basics with this one, though important keys such as Backspace and Enter are full-size, so you aren’t forced to deal with any tiny keys...

Other reasons for the keyboard's affordability? It is also bereft of backlighting, a USB pass-through port, or any kind of fancy (or even basic) wrist rest. This keyboard is pretty bare bones, but it does include several swank touches, such as a steel-reinforced chassis, and a "floating-key" design, which makes it both quite rigid and easy to clean. (It’s the same kind of frameless-keyboard design as we’ve seen of late from the likes of Corsair.)

The keyboard also uses an (admittedly, gimmicky) gold-plated USB connector on the computer end, and the board requires just a single USB port.

It has no USB hub inside, nor any USB pass-through ports on the board itself. Also on the theme of simplicity: There are no drivers to install, and it works on both Macs and Windows PCs simply by plugging it in.

On the Mac/PC note, one very nice touch from Nixeus, seldom seen even among premium mechanical boards, is that the Moda v2 includes alternate Mac keycaps for the Command and Alt keys. If you’ve ever tried to use a PC-centric keyboard on a Mac, you know how maddening it can be trying to figure out which keys to press for certain shortcuts. Nixeus also includes in the box a keycap-puller tool, a welcome addition.

Beyond the bits of the bundle, the maker includes a generous three-year warranty with free tech support. The keys, like Cherry's are rated for 50 million keystrokes each, but we expect you'll grow tired of this board (or your fingers will be worn to the bone) before you test the limits of that claim.

Aside from typing on the keyboard, you can also use it to control media playback via combinations of the Fn key and the row of function keys at the top of the keyboard. There's also an N-key-rollover switch that you can activate by pressing Fn and F9 if you're a button-masher, or play games that require it. And like on many gaming keyboards, you can disable the Windows key (here, by pressing Fn and the Windows key in combination), so that the Windows Start function never accidentally pops in during gaming.

Otherwise, this keyboard offers a basic layout and standard controls with essentially not a frill in sight. But hey, at least you aren't paying for extra features that are not included, or ones you will never use. If all you want is basic, and can live without the number pad, this is as spare as mechanicals come.

Performance

To test this keyboard, we subjected it to a rigorous week-long regimen that involved a lot of typing (including writing this actual review) and some copious key-mashing in PC games.

Nixeus sent us the brown-style switch version of the Moda v2 for testing; we verified this by popping off some keytops...

Underneath. it was easy to see the "Kailh" designation on the switches themselves. The tactile "bump" you feel from the brown switch is noticeable without being a speed limiter, and the keys generally felt a bit soft as opposed to crisp. (That’s the characteristic of the brown switch.) So, if you're looking for a keyboard with a hard, definitive "click," Kailh brown is not the keyboard switch for you. While the extra number-pad keys may be useful if you do much math or accounting work, we appreciated the extra space on our desk cleared up by not having the numpad or a wrist rest. Indeed, it made our daily-driver keyboard, which has both, seem a bit porky in comparison.

We don't do a lot of numeric input, but others may feel differently, and those folks should avoid tenkeyless boards altogether. We didn't miss the keypad portion too much, and the keyboard always felt extremely stable on the desk, thanks to its four rubber underside feet...

The reinforced chassis also made it feel like you could type aggressively and it would never flex at all. Banging on it for days, we never felt it give a bit. Unlike some cheaper keyboards that bend and buckle a bit during heavy typing, the Moda v2 felt extremely strong. Indeed, if one of the orcs or zombies we’re forever battling in our PC games were to jump through the screen and into the room, the Moda v2 is the first item we’d grab to bash it with.

Going in, you know this board is tenkeyless, and you can’t really fault it for that. So our biggest key-related complaint with the Moda v2 is the media keys. They work well enough, in that you press Fn and then the corresponding function F-button to increase the volume, stop playback, and the like. But having to press one key and then judiciously tap another is a clunky way of doing it. Most noisome: having to press two keys to adjust the volume, especially if it's dark in your room and you can't see the keys. Remember: Unlike on some pricier mechanical boards, the Moda v2 has no backlighting.

Otherwise, we were impressed by the keyboard's build quality and ease of use. We plugged it in and began typing comfortably right out of the box, and the switches felt very good to our fingertips. We also liked the floating design of the keys; there's plenty of clearance beneath them, as you can see here...

Bagel crumbs and sesame seeds didn't stand a chance; it certainly was easy to blow a little compressed air underneath the keys from time to time to keep our working area clean. (It just feels a bit too much like that guy from the South Park World of Warcraft episode to be typing on a dirty keyboard.)

In addition, the Mac keycaps are a nice touch, and the choice of three types of switches should be enough to please most typing aficionados.

Conclusion

In the Nixeus Moda v2, we didn't spot a whole lot to review. You don't get a bunch of fancy macro keys, any backlighting options, or a complementary gaming software package. This is a basic keyboard with mechanical switches that works as advertised, without any of the high-end features you see on more expensive gaming-centric keyboards.

If basic is what you want, this model delivers well enough. It felt good to our fingers for typing and gaming, and the brown-switch unit we reviewed had a very subtle "bump" on each keystroke that let us know it was registered. (You might want to try several kinds before you buy.) Overall, it’s a solid keyboard if you’re looking for a no-frills typing experience, and want to get into the mechanical game on a budget.

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